Rainwater Runoff from Building Facades: a Review
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Accepted for publication in Building and Environment (October 17, 2012) Rainwater runoff from building facades: a review B. Blocken ∗ (a) , D. Derome (b) , J. Carmeliet (b,c) (a) Building Physics and Services, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands (b) Laboratory for Building Science and Technologies, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research, Empa, Überlandstrasse 129, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland (c) Chair of Building Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETHZ, ETH-Hönggerberg, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland Graphical abstract: Research highlights: • Rainwater runoff is responsible for rain penetration, surface soiling, biocide leaching, etc. • Extensive review of rainwater runoff research by observations, measurements and modelling • Review is based on knowledge of wind-driven rain impingement patterns and wind-blocking effect • Review contains 239 papers, reports and books, mainly from the past 5 decades • Information for future research, building design and improvement of hygrothermal models ∗ Corresponding author : Bert Blocken, Building Physics and Services, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O.Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Tel.: +31 (0)40 247 2138, Fax +31 (0)40 243 8595 E-mail address: [email protected] 1 Accepted for publication in Building and Environment (October 17, 2012) Rainwater runoff from building facades: a review B. Blocken ∗ (a) , D. Derome (b) , J. Carmeliet (b,c) (a) Building Physics and Services, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands (b) Laboratory for Building Science and Technologies, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research, Empa, Überlandstrasse 129, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland (c) Chair of Building Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETHZ, ETH-Hönggerberg, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland Abstract Rainwater runoff from building facades is a complex process governed by a wide range of urban, building, material and meteorological parameters. Given this complexity and the wide range of influencing parameters, it is not surprising that despite research efforts spanning over almost a century, wind-driven rain and rainwater runoff are still very active research subjects. Accurate knowledge of rainwater runoff is important for hygrothermal and durability analyses of building facades, assessment of indirect evaporative cooling by water films on facades to mitigate outdoor and indoor overheating, assessment of the self-cleaning action of facade surface coatings and leaching of particles from surface coatings that enter the water cycle as hazardous pollutants. Research on rainwater runoff is performed by field observations, field measurements, laboratory measurements and analytical and numerical modelling. While field observations are many, up to now, field experiments and modelling efforts are few and have been almost exclusively performed for plain facades without facade details. Field observations, often based on a posteriori investigation of the reasons for differential surface soiling, are important because they have provided and continue to provide very valuable qualitative information on runoff, which is very difficult to obtain in any other way. Quantitative measurements are increasing, but are still very limited in relation to the wide range of influencing parameters. To the knowledge of the authors, current state-of-the-art hygrothermal models do not yet contain runoff models. The development, validation and implementation of such models into hygrothermal models is required to supplement observational and experimental research efforts. Keywords: Wind-driven rain; driving rain; wind flow; facade surface soiling; runoff leaching; urban heat island 1. Introduction 1.1. Wind-driven rain and related building pathology "All buildings, whatever shortcomings they may have, are required to possess two fundamental characteristics. They should be structurally sound and they should exclude moisture." (Marsh 1977 [1]) The co-occurrence of wind and rain causes wind-driven rain (WDR). WDR or driving rain is rain that is given a horizontal velocity component by the wind, that falls obliquely and that is driven against the windward facade of buildings. WDR is one of the most important moisture sources affecting the hygrothermal performance and durability of building facades [1-5]. Consequences of its destructive properties can take many forms. Moisture accumulation in porous materials can lead to rain penetration [1,3,6-17], frost damage [3,4,17-20], moisture- induced salt migration [4,17,18] discolouration by efflorescence [3,4,17], biological and chemical degradation of the building material and building components [21-34] and structural cracking due to thermal and moisture gradients [17], to mention just a few. When rain penetration occurs, WDR also becomes a moisture source for the building interior, possibly damaging interior surfaces and furniture (e.g. cultural heritage in historical buildings). The problem of rain penetration can occur in masonry load bearing walls and cavity walls (also referred to as veneer-clad walls) as well as in curtain wall systems. Matthews et al. [35] state that about half of 1980s era e curtain wall buildings suffered leaks and that one third deteriorated unacceptably before the end of their design ∗ Corresponding author : Bert Blocken, Building Physics and Services, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O.Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Tel.: +31 (0)40 247 2138, Fax +31 (0)40 243 8595 E-mail address: [email protected] 2 life. These failures have required costly repairs and in 1991, an entire building had to be reclad [36]. Apart from rain penetration, WDR impact and runoff is also responsible for the appearance of surface-soiling patterns on facades, which have become characteristic for so many of our buildings [5,17,21,25,37-50]. As an example, Figure 1 displays the facade of the Royal Festival Hall in London, before and after a few years of exposure to atmospheric pollution and WDR. Although these issues have been widely and for a long time recognised as major building problems, damage claims and huge repair and replacement costs are still on the rise [5,36,51]. Three reasons are feeding the persistence of these problems. First, there is the increasing use of innovative design features, building technologies and materials in present-day construction, knowledge on the hygrothermal performance of which has not yet been fully attained. Second, the designs of many modern architects do not shed water from their facades in the way that pre-modern era buildings have done for centuries. Instead, in their strive for plane and smooth building facades with a minimum of details, many modern architects tend to abandon adequate facade detailing with cornices, ornated sills, parapets etc, which is essential for protection against WDR and rainwater runoff. Third, unlike most requirements of buildings where the design data can be expressed in quantitative terms, appropriate quantitative design data for WDR and rainwater runoff are lacking. WDR and rainwater runoff are also important as part of indirect evaporative cooling by water films on exterior building surfaces that can reduce the required cooling load for the indoor environment and mitigate indoor and outdoor heat stress and the urban heat island effect [52-54]. WDR and runoff also contribute to the self-cleaning action of facade surface coatings and glass surface coatings [55,56]. On the other hand, the development and application of these coatings has also incited serious concerns about the leaching of (nano- )particles by WDR and rainwater runoff, by which these particles enter the water cycle as hazardous pollutants [57-60]. Knowledge on WDR and rainwater runoff is essential for the adequate design of building facades. WDR and rainwater runoff are essential boundary conditions for the study of the hygrothermal performance and durability of building facades with Heat-Air-Moisture (HAM) transfer models, for the analysis of indirect evaporative cooling and for the assessment of the self-cleaning action and leaching of facade surface coatings. 1.2. The two parts in wind-driven rain research "But the question how to design our buildings so that no rain will penetrate can only be answered if the amount of water we have to resist is known." (Vos 1974 [61]) The study of WDR in building research and building physics consists of two parts: (1) assessment of the impinging WDR on vertical building walls (before raindrop impact) and (2) assessment of the response of the building walls to the impinging rain (after raindrop impact) (Fig. 2). The first part of WDR research comprises the study of the movement and distribution of raindrops as they fall from the clouds and are carried by the wind in the atmospheric boundary layer until they impinge on the building facade. The impinging WDR intensity is governed by a wide range of parameters: urban geometry, building geometry, facade geometry, facade detailing, position on the building facade, and all relevant meteorological parameters such as wind speed, wind direction, rainfall intensity and raindrop-size distribution. The complex interaction of these parameters yields distinct WDR patterns across facades [5,17,38-41,46-50,62-109]. The second part of WDR research consists of the micro-scale physical processes that occur at and after impact of WDR at the building facade. It includes surface phenomena such as